Industries, such as oil and gas exploration, new construction, terrorism, border security, facilities of various types, and offices of various types, often need temporary security and entry and access control services to be placed at entry/exit points at locations that do not require a permanent installation of a permanently installed system.
Further, construction sites, commercial properties, manufacturing facilities, the US infrastructures, and energy sector are increasingly undergoing vandalism and theft. The vandalism extends to property damage as well as the destruction of construction equipment and building materials. The theft of manufacturing and construction equipment, and building materials is costly to the contractor, the owner and company. In response, property owners and construction companies, manufacturing facilities, energy exploration sites, infrastructure locations have attempted to limit and/or control access to and/or monitor construction sites, commercial properties, manufacturing facilities, the US infrastructures, and energy sector sites or hire off-duty law enforcement as security. Limiting and/or controlling access is, however, difficult and, in early stages of construction (not just talking about construction, we are talking about all the other above mentioned entities and applications as well), nearly impossible. Property owners of all types have also used monitoring systems to deter vandalism and theft. These attempts have also been in vain. For example, such monitoring systems typically emit an audible alarm upon sensing a particular event, such as motion, and, especially in remote areas, are seldom heard.
At some sites, these entry/exit points are being monitored by security companies that staff these locations with retirees living and operating out of their own recreational vehicles posted at each entry/exit point designated by the customer for 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Their primary responsibility is to log the time and date of a vehicle's license plate, possibly a person's identification and report any suspicious activity.
Due to the fact the job requires a worker to work 24 hours a day/7 days a week makes it difficult for a security company to keep up the staffing due to the limited number of workers available and licensed to do the job.
These types of security and control system are flawed. Human error plays a significant role in the accuracy of the information being collected and how the entry/exit point is maintained and enforced. The lack of attention to detail due to fatigue, favors for frequent visitors, potential theft, and personal injury incidents are some examples. The question on whether the security guard's testimony and recollection of events standup in a court case should the need arise is another not to mention the safety of workers placed in a position of having to defend themselves should the need arise out on location. The current system have a vast potential for corruption as a result of the security personnel becoming weary and frustrated on the job due to boredom and the amount time they put in versus the money they make for guarding an access point.
The current systems mentioned are intended more for deterring vandalism and theft rather than actually acquiring visual incriminating evidence to catch for the purpose of reprimanding an employee or providing reliable evidence to law enforcement for the purpose of prosecuting a crime and catching the perpetrators.
A need exists for a portable, unmanned, entry & access control system capable of logging and/or allowing or denying the access and egress of vehicular and pedestrian traffic to a site, wherein the system includes monitoring and/or recording to provide security redundancy and security that is verifiable.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.